Nuvo Research Inc., of Mississauga, Ontario, reported preclinical data suggesting its immune modulating drug candidate WF10 showed a therapeutic impact on signs and symptoms of experimentally induced rheumatoid arthritis in mice

Sanofi SA, of Paris, and Regeneron Pharmaceuticals Inc., of Tarrytown, N.Y., enrolled their first patients in Phase III COMPARE and ASCERTAIN trials of sarilumab, for patients with moderate to severe rheumatoid arthritis (RA) who have not responded to methotrexate or tumor necrosis factor alpha inhibitor therapy

Celebrex has been approved by the FDA for juvenile rheumatoid arthritis since 2006, but little is known of the impact of nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory drugs on blood pressure in children

TiGenix NV, of Leuven, Belgium, announced that Cx611 demonstrated therapeutic activity on standard outcome measures and biologic markers of inflammation for at least three months after dosing in a Phase IIa trial in rheumatoid arthritis

Protalex Inc., of Summit, N.J., said that following a planned interim safety review by a data safety monitoring committee, it will continue enrollment and dosing of patients in its Phase Ib trial of PRTX-100 in combination with methotrexate and leflunomide for rheumatoid arthritis

Isis also is evaluating ISIS-CRPRx in a Phase II study in patients with rheumatoid arthritis (RA), where CRP is chronically elevated

Ablynx NV, of Ghent, Belgium, reported efficacy and safety data for its anti-IL-6R nanobody, ALX-0061, at the 24-week final analysis of the Phase II part of a Phase I/II study in patients with moderately to severely active rheumatoid arthritis on a stable background of methotrexate...Xencor Inc., of Monrovia, Calif., dosed the first patient in a Phase Ib/IIa trial of XmAb5871 in patients with moderate to severe rheumatoid arthritis

Eli Lilly and Co., of Indianapolis, halted its Phase III rheumatoid arthritis (RA) program for tabalumab, an anti-B cell activating factor monoclonal antibody, for lack of efficacy

Mesoblast Ltd., of Melbourne, Australia, said it received clearance from the FDA to start a Phase II trial testing a single intravenous infusion of allogeneic mesenchymal precursor cells (MPCs) for the treatment of active rheumatoid arthritis (RA

in its dose-escalation Phase Ib study of PRTX-100 in rheumatoid arthritis (RA

UCB SA, of Brussels, Belgium, reported findings at the American College of Rheumatology's meeting in Washington from studies testing the long-term outcomes, dosing, safety and impact on daily living in patients treated with Cimzia (certolizumab pegol) for moderate to severe rheumatoid arthritis (RA

for a randomized, multicenter, multiple-dose, dose-escalation Phase Ib study assessing the safety and tolerability of intravenous PRTX-100 administered weekly over five weeks in patients with active rheumatoid arthritis on methotrexate therapy

Biogen Idec Inc., of Weston, Mass., reported in its third-quarter earnings call that it will not proceed with a planned Phase IIa rheumatoid arthritis (RA) study of its Syk inhibitor partnered with Portola Pharmaceuticals Inc., of South San Francisco

Ablynx NV, of Ghent, Belgium, said its anti-IL-6R nanobody, ALX-0061, met the efficacy endpoint of a significant improvement in key indicators of disease activity at the 12-week interim analysis of the Phase I/II study in patients with moderate to severe active rheumatoid arthritis (RA) on a stable background of methotrexate

MorphoSys AG, of Martinsried, Germany, said results from a Phase Ib/IIa study demonstrated signs of efficacy with HuCAL antibody MORE103 in rheumatoid arthritis patients

Pfizer Inc., of New York, said it will present new data for tofacitinib, its first-in-class oral JAK inhibitor in rheumatoid arthritis (RA), at the American College of Rheumatology (ACR)/Association of Rheumatology Health Professionals (ARHP) 2012 Annual Meeting in November in Washington

Protalex Inc., of Summit, N.J., said data from its Phase Ib dose-escalation trial showed that PRTX-100 was well tolerated at all dose levels in adult patients with rheumatoid arthritis (RA) and, at the higher doses, more patients showed improvement in their Clinical Disease Activity Index for RA than did patients in the lower-dose or placebo cohorts

Medivir AB, of Stockholm, Sweden, said it started a Phase Ib trial of its candidate drug, MIV-711, a cathepsin K inhibitor intended to treat skeletal disorders such as osteoporosis, rheumatoid arthritis and bone metastases

Lexicon Pharmaceuticals Inc., of The Woodlands, Texas, reported preliminary results from a Phase I dose-ranging study of LX2931, an inhibitor of sphingosine-1-phosphate lyase, in rheumatoid arthritis